‘Scerodactly’ (= localized thickening of the skin on the fingers: see the photo above & below) is listed as the most significant hand sign in diabetes mellitus type 1 (= insuline dependent diabetes) – according the log odds ratio statistics. And it is interesting to notice here that 4 of the 10 hand signs relate to the skin of the hand (see hand signs 1, 5, 6 and 7), including one that relates to the nails (hand sign 4).

NOTICE: In the field of medical dermatology the nails are perceived as being a part of the skin!

Additionally, studies have shown that skin abnormalties in diabetes become very signficant when these are also featured by motoric problems.

And it is fascinating to notice that these TOP 10 hand signs significant for Diabetes Mellitus – type 1 is a mix of hand features that relate to both the palm (5 hand signs) and fingers (7 hand signs) – hand sign five and seven relates to both the palm and the fingers.

– THE TOP 10 HAND SIGNS FOR RECOGNIZING DOWN SYNDROME –

This TOP 10 is composed from a list of 27 hand signs for Down syndrome, and the hand signs are ranked by Log Odds Ratio – which are calculated from the prevalence (%) among Down syndrome patients & controls.

It is interesting to notice here that 4 of the 10 hand signs relate to the palmar hypothenar (‘mount of Moon’ in the fields of palmistry), and additionally the majority of these hand signs relate to the ulnar side of the hand (hypothenar + the pinky and ring finger).

And it is fascinating to notice that these TOP 10 hand signs significant for Down syndrome is a mix of hand features that relate to both the palm (6 hand signs) and fingers (4 hand signs).

In this new report we’ll focuss on a few details in the fingerprint of the pinky finger.

Pinky fingers are usually featured with an ulnar loop:

The World Map of Fingerprints has shown that in all nations around the world the pinky fingerprint is dominated by the presence of an ‘ulnar loop’.

And in a study among 5 world populations (N=2.785) in 78% of the individuals the pinky finger is featured with an ‘ulnar loop’. The study also revealed that the effect size for fingerprints & sexe and fingerprints & ethnic difference is the largest in the pinky finger.

Other studies (Loesch, 1983) have revealed that when a pinky finger is featured with a whorl or arch, the ring finger is usually featured with the same fingerprint pattern type. In other words: the fingerprint type on the pinky finger typically highly depends on the fingerprints of the other fingers – especially the ring finger.

This implicates that the fingerprint type displayed by the little finger hardly provides any clues – because usually it’s an ‘ulnar loop’ and otherwise it correlates with the fingerprint on the ring finger.

Ridge count in pinky fingers:

However, beyond the fingerprint pattern type, another aspect of the fingerprint may reveal more specified meaningful information.

For example: in 1989 a study revealed that the ridge count in the left pinky finger can become highly meaningful when it is summarized with the ridge count of the five finger of the right hand minus the ridge count of the five fingers of the left hand. In a population of people with congenital heart defects in Down syndrome, the summation outcome was typically (in 10 out of 13 individuals) lower than the ridge count of the left pinky finger itself. While among the control population (people who have Down syndrome without congenital heart defects) the same result was relatively rare (in only 1 out of 38 individuals).

One can understand this rather remarkable example of palm reading in the perspective of the fact that usually in the fingers of the right hand the ridge count is typically higher than in the fingers of the left hand (this effect is often largest in the thumb).

Fingerprints mark us out as individuals and leave telltale signs of our presence on every object that we touch. However, what else can a fingerprints reveal? Authors of many palm reading books suggest that a single fingerprint represents certain ‘fixed’ qualities. However, there has never been presented any evidence which support such specific claim. And despite the fact that certain fingerprint characteristics correlate highly for sexe an individual, even the sexe can not always be determined from a single fingerprint!

What can a single fingerprint reveal? As a matter of fact, there are many myths about fingerprints. For quite a while scientists assumed that the purpose of fingerprints should be associated with giving ‘grip’ to the hand. But even this ‘grip’ theory became doubtful according a 2009 study.

CAN A SINGLE FINGERPRINT REVEAL IF IT BELONGS TO A MALE OR FEMALE?

The current state of knowledge is that only the distal region of a fingerprint correlates with sexe. Studies have revealed that fingerprint ridge densities of 12 or less (per 25 mm) is usually a male, while fingerprint ridge densities of 15 or more (per 25 mm) is usually a female. But fingerprint ridge density alone can not reliably predict the sexe in large samples (below 75%).

However, there is a long list of tiny fingerprint characteristics that are also significant for sexe; and combining ridge density with those characteristics will usually result in a correct identification of sexe – especially when applied to the pinky finger.

1 – Finger size: larger in males;2 – Ridge dots: more common in males (34%) than in females (20%);3 – Short ridges: more common in males (38%) than in females (23%);4 – Ridge spurs: more common in males (32%) than in females (26%);5 – No ridge endings: more common in females (8% ) than in males (2%);6 – Ridge lakes: more common in females (45%) than in males (35%);7 – Ridge thickness to valley thickness ratio (RTVTR): lower in females;8 – Ridge count: lower in females.

A world map based on the pattern-index of fingerprints around the world.

The science of fingerprint interpretation has still a long road ahead before it’s value will be recognized everywhere around the world. Most people are only aware of the fact that each single fingerprint has it’s own unique characteristics – which makes every fingerprint unique in any person. However, beyond the aspect of personal identification, there is another spectrum hidden in the characteristics of the finger glyphs: a perspective that relates to the qualities of your chromosomes & genes… and your health!

The unique characteristics of your fingerprints were already established before you were born. But while it is relatively easy to recognize/describe the uniqueness of a single fingerprint, it is much harder to ‘read’ other info from a fingerprint.

THE ART OF COMBINATION:

Using fingerprint for diagnostic matters requires an understanding of how to discriminate common fingerprint characteristics from rare- or even ‘suspected’ characteristics – in a diagnostic context.

Medical science learns us that unusual dermatoglyphic patterns (usually a combination of fingerprints & palmar dermatoglyphs) often relate to genetic disorders. But is it possible to make a reliable diagnosis from the fingerprints only?

SEXE DIFFERENCES:

Studies around the world nearly always indicate that fingerprints show typical variations among males and females: whorls are more common in the hands of males, arches are more common in the hands of females. And regarding loops: radial loops are usually slightly more common in males, and ulnar loops in females.

ETHNIC DIFFERENCES:

Fingerprint studies around the world have also confirmed that fingerprints also vary with the location in the world. Asians are known for having more whorls, North-Europeans are known for having more loops, and certain tribes in Central Africa are known for having more arches.

FINGER VARIATIONS:

But there is another specific characteristic that has hardly ever been described thoroughly. Because the major fingerprint types typically manifest in different ratios among the fingers.

A few examples:

• ULNAR LOOPS are in all world populations (males & females) seen in the large majority on the pinky finger. And a likewise pattern is seen for the middle finger.

• WHORLS are usually the most dominant type on the thumb, index finger & ring finger; but the prevalance of whorls is typically only slightly higher than the prevalance of ulnar loops.

• RADIAL LOOPS are typically only seen on the index finger (though these are also not uncommon on the middle finger).

• ARCHES are most often seen on the index finger, but they are also not uncommon for the middle finger & thumb.

THE UNIVERSAL PATTERN:

Fingerprint studies have indicated that in nearly all regions of the world the loop is found to be the most common fingerprint type. And therefore the distributions for the arches & whorls become decisive.

The ring finger has been associated with the wearing of rings in married men and women since the Roman times. And this tradition appears to origin in the early belief that a nerve, vein or artery runs directly from the 4th digit to the heart, and therefore it became judged to be the seat of the emotions. However, medical science today does not present any anatomical evidence that confirms this early belief. Nevertheless, there are other explanations why the ring finger became associated with marriage!

Despite the missing of anatomical evidence for a connection with the heart, there is alternative evidence which suggest that wearing a ring on the ring finger can be associated with the ‘control’ of brute emotions.

CASANOVA:

Anecdotal evidence is found in the memoirs of Giacomo Casanova from Venice, who became known as one of the most famous ‘womanisers’ of all times. Casanova’s life as an adventurous writer took him across Europe, and in his memoirs about his stay in Spain we learn of the relative length of his fingers. Casanova described a dispute with the painter Anton Raphael Mengs about the ‘human condition’ of the ratio between the index finger and the ring finger. While Menge was claiming that his longer index finger was the correct human condition, Casanova claimed that his long finger was ”like that of all the children descended from Adam’.

But Casanova was not aware that his claim was basically only true for men only!

COMMITMENT:

Professor John Manning from the UK presented two books devoted to the ‘2D:4D digit ratio’. In his first book, Manning presented some evidence that the wearing of rings in married women can be understood as an act of ‘advertising’ their commitment to their marriage.

Additionally, the study also demonstrated that a considerable lower percentage of the married men (29%) was wearing a ring on their ring finger – while the percentage was considerably higher for the married women (71%).

PRENATAL MARKER:

Today especially the length of the ring finger became known as a prenatal marker for masculinity, and in all regions of the world studies have confirmed that in males the absolute length of the ring finger is usually longer than the absolute length of the index finger. And some studies have pointed out that the sexual dimorphism in finger measures is even more strongly expressed in the distal extent of fingertips than in the length of fingers.

In his second book ‘The Finger book’ Prof. John Manning describes a few references to scientific studies dating back to the 19th and early 20 century:

“The ‘Casanova pattern’ in the fingers is considered by some to be the mark of an ugly hand – an atavistic hand recalling brute instincts and behaviours, modelling the forms of the fingers of our monkey relatives. Thus the ‘beast’ in us is represented by the ring finger while the ‘beauty’ resides in the index finger. This notion has led to suggestions that the femininised ‘Mengs pattern’ is of a purer type, a hand which signifies emancipation from our primate ancestry. … Science, however, has been slow to identify the importance of such connections. That there is a sex difference in the relative length of men’s and women’s fing and index fingers has been known for more than a century. Compared to sex differences arising at puberty the finger ratio is modest in its size and visibility, and it has been neglegted.”

These considerations provide an explanation about why the 4th finger became known as the ‘ring finger’. The ringfinger became also known as the 4th finger or the annulus (digitus annularis).

BOOKS:

The following books about fingers are highly recommended to read much more about fingers (presenting various elements that can be described as ‘building stones’ in Mult-Perspective Palm Reading):